1.1 Technical Field
This invention pertains to a transportation system capable of moving passengers, vehicles, or both at speeds significantly greater than possible with automobile travel, while allowing each passenger to individually determine that passenger""s destination from a potentially large set of possible locations.
1.2 Background Art
Intra-continental travelers can typically choose to travel by automobile, truck, train, or airplane. Each option has its own set of benefits and disadvantages. For example, travel by automobile or truck has the advantage of the traveler having no external restrictions as to departure time or choice of destination, as any person with access to a vehicle can choose to leave on a trip at any time, and route the trip to any destination which is accessible by a road. Vehicle transportation has the further advantage of allowing the traveler to utilize that vehicle for further transportation at the point of destination. On the other hand, vehicular transportation has the disadvantage of being relatively slow, when compared to airplane travel or high-speed rail transportation.
Travel by airplane or high-speed train has the advantage of moving passengers at relatively high speeds, resulting in reaching a destination more quickly than possible by car or truck. However, passengers are restricted as to departure time, and thus arrival time, as they must select from commercial airplane or train schedules. For the same reason, the set of possible destinations is limited. Further, once arriving at a selected destination by airplane or train, the traveler does not have access to his own vehicle, as would be the case if that vehicle had been driven.
Travelers would be well-served by a transportation system which was faster than vehicular travel, but which did not require limited arrival and departure times which must conform to filling a mass transportation airplane or train with multiple passengers. Furthermore, travelers would welcome a transportation system which permitted a passenger to take his own automobile with him, for use at a point of destination, or for traveling further than the destination made available by the transportation system.
The invention described herein contemplates providing these advantages to travelers by a if transportation system based on magnetic levitation. Magnetic levitation systems are known in the prior art, such as the systems described in PCT Patent WO 92/04218 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,636 to Wang et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,853 to Suppes, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,737 to Miericke. It has been demonstrated in trials of mag-lev systems that speeds of 300 miles per hour and greater can be achieved. However, currently available technology does not provide for mag-lev transportation of automotive vehicles to individually chosen destinations, which is made possible by the claimed invention.
Other mass transportation systems are known in the prior art, each with particular advantages. For example, the electric vehicle transport system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,227 to Mullen permits electric cars to be loaded onto individual transport modules and moved along a system of guideways to a destination station, but not at the high speeds which can be achieved with a magnetic levitation system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,258 to Forsyth et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,496 to Drygass disclose transporter vehicles for moving multiple cars at relatively slow speeds. U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,735 to Lund teaches a system for automated transport of automobiles, via electrified guideways, but at speeds not much greater than 100 miles per hour (col. 36). U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,704 to Gilvar et al. discloses a system with individually controlled vehicles, but which is not capable of transporting standard automobiles.
Other mass transportation systems in the prior art include monorail systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,064 to Owen and U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,330 to Li, and a railway system for guided vehicles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,422 to Pasquan. These transportation systems efficiently move individual passengers but do not expressly contemplate moving automobiles or trucks.
Although each of these transportation systems is well-suited for its intended purpose, none provides a high speed manner to transport both passengers and automotive vehicles to individually selected destinations.
2.1 Summary of the Invention
An object of this invention is to provide a new and useful high speed transportation system.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a transportation system which can carry individual passengers, automotive vehicles, or both.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such a transportation system which allows each passenger, with or without an automobile, to select an individual destination on demand.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such a transportation system in which each passenger can travel within the privacy and customary comfort of that passenger""s own automotive vehicle, allowing the passenger to utilize that vehicle beyond the destination achieved on the transportation system.
The transportation system claimed herein includes a transportation network of stations and guideways connecting the stations to one another. Each guideway consists of parallel tracks. Individual transporters move between the parallel tracks from one station to another. The design and functionality of each transporter can vary significantly, as long as each transporter is of a size that fits between the parallel tracks. Each transporter is conveniently large enough to receive an automobile or truck, which vehicle can drive into an open door of the transporter at a dock in an origination station. It is possible to construct transporters and guideways which would accommodate large trucks and semi-trailers, but it is contemplated that the most efficient use of the transportation system would accommodate primarily small trucks and automobiles. Once the transporter has traveled, at speeds of approximately 300 miles per hour, across the guideways to a destination station, the vehicle is driven off the transporter onto a dock, and from there utilized in a typical fashion at the destination location or on roads leading from the destination station to other locales.
Most transporters have a body of sufficient size to receive and enclose a vehicle, but some transporters could be designed to provide seating for passengers traveling without vehicles. Similarly, transporters could be constructed to accommodate freight shipments, which could be moved into the transporter by forklift or dolly, without the necessity of including a propulsion vehicle.
Two horizontally extending supports extend in opposite directions from the body, and a transporter support magnet is supported by each horizontally extending support. Magnets supported by the guideways have the same polarity as the transporter support magnets. Thus, when the transporter support magnets are positioned above the guideway support magnets, the transporter is allowed to effectively glide along the guideways, without physically contacting the guideways. To enhance stability, it is preferable to arrange the horizontally extending supports above the center of gravity of the transporter body.
A myriad of possible designs, configurations, and possible amenities can be included with any individual transporter. For example, each transporter could include a permanent lavatory, with hot and cold running water, which is accessible by passengers riding in that transporter or riding in a vehicle loaded onto that transporter. Each such lavatory could be made fire-proof to provide a safe haven for passengers on that transporter in the event of a fire or other catastrophe, or a separate fire-proof compartment could be provided for this purpose.
Transporters designed to hold automobiles or trucks include a balance and stability system to enable the vehicle to be safely positioned and held in position within the transporter as the transporter moves across the transportation system. When the vehicle is driven into the transporter, a weight sensor determines the weight of the vehicle and how that weight is distributed. The balance and stability system then communicates a message to the driver of the vehicle, by any number of commonly known methods, indicating the direction to which the vehicle should be guided within the transporter to cause the vehicle to be properly aligned within the transporter to most stably distribute the weight of the vehicle. In this manner, the vehicle is directed to a most stable position within the transporter.
Once the vehicle has been positioned appropriately, a stabilization means is utilized to hold the vehicle in the most stable position during transportation over the transportation system. The stabilization means can efficiently consist of chocks which are automatically moved into place to keep the tires of the vehicle from moving. Various means of placing the chocks may be utilized, including hydraulic methods or gears. For example, the position of the chocks could be adjusted by a rotating belt to which the chocks are connected, moving the chocks to a variety of possible positions along the floor in the front of the transporter. Once the front chocks are moved to a position in front of the front wheels of the vehicle, a second set of chocks automatically raise from the floor of the transporter behind the car, and conveniently move forward to rest against the rear wheels, holding the vehicle securely in place.
Each transporter is individually routable, on demand, to any station in the transportation network. Each transporter includes a routing controller, which identifies the desired destination for the passenger or passengers of that transporter, by reading such information from a key, ticket, or other license which is obtained by the individual passenger. The routing controller of the transporter directs the transporter to accelerate along a station guideway leading from the origination station to a main guideway, where speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour are maintained by multiple transporters being propelled along the main guideway. The routing controller queries the main guideway to detect a space between transporters already moving along the main guideway sufficient to accommodate the transporter on which that routing controller is located. For transporters moving at approximately 300 miles per hour, an available space of approximately one hundred ten to two hundred feet is appropriate. Obviously, the smaller the space between transporters, the more transporters that can move along the main guideway at a given time. Having detected such an available space, the routing controller directs that transporter to commence moving at a time calculated to place the transporter onto the main guideway in the space between the moving transporters.
The routing controller continues to direct the transporter from one guideway to another so as to most efficiently arrive at a destination station identified by the passenger""s key. A station guideway connecting the main guideway on which the transporter is propelled to the destination station is used to decelerate from speeds of approximately 300 miles per hour along the main guideway, to stop at a dock at the destination station.
The transportation system includes multiple guideways, along which each individual transporter may be propelled. The main guideway has a distance between tracks, or main guideway gauge, which is sufficient to accommodate transporters moving along the guideway between its tracks. At each intersection of two guideways, one set of guideway tracks has the main guideway gauge and the second, intersecting set of tracks are constructed outside and contiguous to the main guideway. For example, a station guideway connecting a station with a main guideway conveniently has a station guideway gauge, or distance between guideway tracks, which is sufficient to allow the main guideway tracks intersecting that station guideway to be physically located inside the station guideway tracks. Thus, transporters moving along the main guideway pass through the intersection without encountering the station guideway tracks, except for transporters which are individually routed onto the station guideway at the intersection.
In an alternative embodiment, the main guideway could be wider than the station guideway, so that the station guideway has the more narrow tracks fitting within the main guideway tracks in an intersection. It is advantageous to build the station guideways of a wider gauge than the main guideway, however, since the transporters are more stable with the horizontally extending supports in a retracted position, as opposed to extended to move along wider gauge track. Thus, since transporters typically move at an average speed which is faster on a main guideway than on a station guideway, main guideways typically utilize a more narrow gauge than the station guideways.
When an individual transporter is ready to move from an origination station to the main guideway, the routing controller causes the transporter to move along the origination station guideway where it accelerates to attain the speed of transporters moving on the main guideway. Each station guideway is built with a sufficient distance between the station and the intersection with the main guideway to allow transporters moving along that station guideway to accelerate to main guideway speeds, without causing discomfort to individual passengers in the transporters being accelerated. In a preferred embodiment, the station guideway is constructed above the main guideway, ultimately sloping downward to intersect the main guideway. Thus, a transporter which has accelerated along an origination station guideway is lowered onto the main guideway at the intersection of the main guideway and the origination station guideway.
Station guideways have a sufficiently wide gauge to allow transporters on the main guideway to pass between the station guideway tracks in areas in which the main guideway intersects with the station guideways. The intersection of each main guideway and each station guideway consists of an interval in which the station guideway tracks lie along the outside and level with the main guideway. The support magnets of the intersecting guideways are contiguous throughout the intersection. When a transporter moves from the station guideway to the main guideway, the routing controller of that transporter directs the horizontally extending supports of that transporter to retract, causing the transporter support magnets to engage the main guideway support magnets as the transporter moves along the intersection. Similarly, when the routing controller determines that the individual transporter should move from a main guideway to a wider gauge destination station guideway, the routing controller causes the transporter horizontally extending supports to extend outwardly from the transporter, so that the transporter support magnets are physically located above and engage the support magnets of the destination station guideway. When the routing controller determines that the individual transporter should move from a main guideway to a secondary guideway connecting two main guideways, the routing controller extends or retracts the transporter horizontally extending supports to cause the transporter support magnets to be physically located above the support magnets of the appropriate new guideway. Guideways intersect for an appropriate distance which allows the horizontally extending supports to be extended or retracted from a position with the support magnets above the guideway along which the transporter was traveling, to a position with the support magnets above the guideway to which the transporter is moving, at the high speeds at which the transporter is moving.
Because the transporter support magnets can be extended and retracted to be positioned over guideway support magnets of varying widths, only one pair of support magnets is necessary for each transporter. Alternatively, multiple support magnets covering an area the size of the guideway support magnets on each separate guideway track can be used, with the multiple support magnets aligned in a row in the same location as a single support magnet. A transporter with support magnets of 250 pounds on each transporter support can efficiently carry a ten thousand pound load. In contrast, multiple transporter support magnets could be aligned to glide over guideway support magnets of varying widths. However, using multiple transporter support magnets spanning an area over varying width tracks would significantly increase the weight of each transporter, and thus increase the force required to move the transporter. Transporters with a single pair of support magnets, or multiple support magnets aligned in a row, each with a width comparable to a single pair of guideway support magnets, as claimed herein, weigh less than a transporter with longer or multiple support magnets. The claimed transporter can thus be propelled faster than a heavier transporter, by exertion of the same force.
While guideways intersect for a distance sufficient to allow transporter support magnets to be moved from one guideway to a wider or narrower guideway intersecting the guideway along which the transporter was previously moving, the two guideways can diverge from one another after that distance. In a preferred embodiment, each station guideway diverges by raising above the main guideway which is intersected by that station guideway. In this manner, a transporter decelerating from the main guideway is effectively lifted above the main guideway on a destination station guideway, allowing the transporter to decelerate as it moves toward the destination station without slowing the traffic of other transporters along the main guideway. It is contemplated that main guideways may be constructed under ground, while station guideways run from the underground main guideways to stations located above ground.
To cause the horizontally extending supports of a transporter to extend or retract, the routing controller directs a rotatable shaft which cooperates with the horizontally extending supports to rotate one direction or the other. When the routing controller causes the rotatable shaft to rotate in an extension direction, the horizontally extending supports are moved outward from the transporter, causing the transporter support magnets to be positioned above guideway support magnets on a relatively wide guideway, such as a station guideway. When the routing controller causes the rotatable shaft to rotate in a direction opposite the extension direction, the horizontally extending supports are moved inward toward the transporter, causing the transporter support magnets to be positioned above support magnets on a relatively narrow guideway, such as a main guideway. It is contemplated that various width guideways could be built, with the horizontally extending supports having numerous possible positions, each accessible by rotating the rotatable shaft a particular number of degrees in a chosen direction, allowing the transporter support magnets to be positioned above guideway support magnets of a variety of guideway track gauges.
The transporters can be propelled along the guideways in a number of ways. A particularly efficient embodiment utilizes linear induction motors to move each transporter. The active element of each linear induction motor, comprising a coil, is connected to the guideways, and provides electrical power from a remote source. The passive element of each linear induction motor is conveniently attached to each transporter, so that the transporter portion of the linear induction motor fits into and is propelled along by the guideway active element.
Each transporter is held in an appropriate alignment between the tracks of a guideway by alignment magnets located on each transporter, positioned between alignment magnets of the same polarity along each guideway. In this manner, the transporter is pushed into an appropriate position between the guideway tracks by the magnetic force between the transporter alignment magnets and the guideway alignment magnets.
Empty transporters can easily be routed from one station to another, to pick up passengers, freight, or vehicles at an origination station of high demand. Thus, multiple empty transporters can be sent along the main guideways at periods of low demand, to arrive at and be loaded at origination stations with relatively high traffic.
The novel transportation system described herein achieves the objectives of providing a method of high speed travel, in which each passenger can travel with or without a vehicle to be utilized at the destination, and in which each passenger can individually select a destination to which that passenger""s transporter is routed, commencing travel at any time a transporter is available. The transportation system achieves these goals while using less fuel per mile traveled than commercial airline transportation. Furthermore, the transportation system claimed herein has environmental benefits, as it results in less exhaust per mile traveled than contemporary vehicle traffic.